Ok. Chicken and Dumplings are good. Really good. Even when you kind of screw up the recipe…

This is one of the only pictures I got. The dumplings are boiling to their death...

I went off of an awesome recipe from Culinary Cory – but I should have stuck to it more. I decided I was going to add more veggies, but not add more broth to the recipe…

the mound of extra veggies that I thought was a brilliant idea.

Everything was looking good…I added a splash of cream sherry to liven things up a bit…

Looks amazing right now, right?

Things went downhill as soon as I added the dumplings and brought everything to a boil. First of all, the dumplings soak up a lot of broth while they are cooking, so having enough is important. Then, while the mound of veggies were suffocating under the dumplings, I kind of burnt the bottom of the pan…sigh.

This was the end product. More of a stew than a soup...not the most gorgeous photo or dish. But I swear it still tasted great!

Luckily, the end product still tasted good besides a few burnt chunks that were encountered. The pot I used is pissed though. Thank God the friends that ate this didn’t mind a chicken and dumpling stew…We have coincidentally nicknamed the dish “chicken and dumps.” Not because it was bad – just because it’s hilarious.

Despite my mistake, this all got scooped up pretty fast. I didn't have time to take a picture after it had stopped boiling...mmm doughy chunks.

This is just one of those things I guess – a learning experience. “Winging it” and adding tons of extra veggies wasn’t the greatest idea ever. So, here is the lovely recipe below, and for the love of god, either follow it or DOUBLE it or TRIPLE it…Don’t wing it like I did!

In a small Dutch oven or heavy stock pot, preheat the olive oil on medium high heat. Dice the chicken breasts into medium sized pieces and slowly add them to the oil. Add the thyme, salt, pepper and garlic powder to chicken. Sauté for 2 – 3 minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked though, but not brown. Remove and set aside.

To the same Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the celery, onions and carrots to the butter. Stir occasionally for 4 – 5 minutes or until the onions are slightly translucent. Next, add the flour and stir for 1 minute until the flour has completely absorbed the butter. Stir in the cooked chicken and slowly add the chicken stock. Make sure you stir while adding the stock to prevent the flour from causing lumps. Add the frozen peas to the broth.

In a separate bowl, combine the baking mix and milk until well incorporated. Bring the broth to a boil. This is important for the dumplings to steam properly. Drop large tablespoons full of the dumpling batter into the boiling broth. Continue to boil for 10 minutes, uncovered. Cover the soup and reduce the heat to medium low. Cook for an additional 10 minutes, covered.

Its become a semi-tradition: Sunday = Din Tai FUNday. This place is incredible. We usually only go on Sunday mornings right when they open because it’s so hard to get a table during normal lunch and dinner hours (no reservations). I have no idea why Bellevue was chosen as the next place for this a-mazing chain (the only other U.S. location is in L.A.) but I’m not complaining!

The spareribs appetizer - supposed to be served cold, but ask for it hot!

If you’re in the Bellevue/Seattle area, I highly recommend hitting up Din Tai Fung if you want to try some out of this world dumplings, noodles, and other unique accompaniments.

The spicy braised beef soup

One thing I’ve found about Din Tai Fung is you have to know what to order. When I first came here, I tried the pork and crab dumplings – definitely not the best thing on the menu. I also ordered the pork buns thinking they would be similar to Hum Bao but they ended up being buns with a giant pork meatball in the center – also not my thing. I was a little disappointed, but I can’t tell you how glad I was when I gave this place a second chance and discovered the best of the menu (all pictured here).

Pictured below is one of the best dishes ever. The rice cake noodle (choice of shrimp, pork, chicken, veggie…we got the pork today). Looks weird, sounds weird, but taste like nothing else on this earth…at least to me. Chewy, soft noodle-y discs that I tend to pour probably too much vinegar over.

The Shanghai Rice Cake with Pork

Did I mention they give you tiny little bowls of sliced ginger that you have the choice of pouring soy sauce or vinegar over? I go with the vinegar, I’m convinced I’m a fanatic of it since I completely ignore the soy sauce. (You can see the tiny bowl of it in the bottom of the below picture).

A glimpse of our Sunday morning feast, aka Din Tai FUNday.

There’s a lot more where this came from, and since I go here so often, there may have to be a “part II” post. I know I’m not the only one who loves Din Tai Fung, so if you haven’t been, go RIGHT now, seriously. Or wait until Sunday morning at 10:00AM, the best way to brunch in my mind.

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